Mikaela Shiffrin Gets Her G.O.A.T. in Vail Valley
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About 1,500 people turned up Sunday to celebrate American alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin’s record-breaking Word Cup win in Vail, Colorado.
When not racing down mountains in far-off competitions, the 28-year-old unwinds in this mountainside town. As a homegrown Olympian, who was born and raised in Vail Valley, the Adidas-sponsored athlete was in familiar territory. Many of her fans, including American-flag-waving children, weathered sub-zero temperatures to join the festivities that marked her 87th and 88th Alpine Ski World Cup victories.
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Last month at the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Women’s Slalom in Åre, Sweden, Shiffrin knocked off a record that had been in place since Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark set it in 1989.
Unmistakable in an oversized vibrant blue coat that was emblazoned on the back with “Adidas” in large letters, according to the event’s organizer Ross Leonhart, Shiffrin wore her long hair down beneath a knit hat with an Adidas Yerra patch and one from the pasta company Barilla, another sponsor. Lest anyone mix up the number the record-breaking performance, she handed out baseball hats and pins imprinted with “Mikaela87.” Shiffrin was also given a proclamation from local leaders declaring March 11 — the day that she first made skiing history — Mikaela Shiffrin Day. The guest of honor was given specially designed Atomic skis to mark each record that she now has from fellow athletes like Jonny Moseley, Renie Gorsuch and Cindy Nelson.
Knowing that being called an alpine G.O.A.T., as in the “Greatest of All Time,” is a moniker that Shiffrin has eschewed, organizers presented that compliment in different ways. (In a National Public Radio “Morning Edition” interview a few weeks ago, she explained that such accolades make her picture video footage of fainting baby goats that can be found on TikTok.) Regardless, Shiffrin was given a real goat at Sunday’s celebration.
To play up the G.O.A.T. aspect of her win, NBC Olympics enlisted 20 overachieving athletes and some celebrities to congratulate Shiffrin in a video message. Russell Wilson and Ciara, Roger Federer, Derek Jeter, Peyton Manning, Allyson Felix, Chloe Kim, Iga Świątek , Simone Biles, Rowdy Gaines and Sue Bird offered their praise. Sweden’s former World Cup champion Ingemar Stenmark, who has publicly shared his awe of Shiffrin, saluted her again. The TikTok video featured a few unexpected cameos from Kate Winslet, Patrick Dempsey and Savannah Guthrie.
During a Q&A Sunday, Shiffrin enthused about how Olympic skier Bode Miller is her “biggest inspiration.” But big names don’t have to be the sources of inspiration, Shiffrin said.
“The most beautiful thing is that you can choose whoever you want to look up to. And that can change through the course of your life. Surround yourself with people and visuals that help you dream, to be ambitious and motivated, in order to achieve what you want to achieve.” She said, “It can be anybody. It could be your mom, it could be your grandmother, it could be your brother. For me, all of those people have been such a big part of my motivation, my inspiration. And what’s also kept me grounded.”
She also opened up about her hometown spirit and how she is still reeling in the elation of last month’s record-breaking moment. Having just been “riding a really high heart rate over the last month, or maybe even the last five months.” she said, “I’m still waiting for it to come down a little bit. So just getting some time with family at home, chilling out, that’s [been] really good.”
That said, Shiffrin said she would soon be skiing again in a training camp in Europe (and testing some Atomic skis) later this week. Acknowledging how “it doesn’t really stop,” she said, “I don’t really get time off. But I get time to do other things that help lower my heart rate again and kind of bring the calm back into my life.“
Shiffrin also said there was no magic moment when she knew that she could take over the title. “It’s so many different pieces that are all put together. It’s not something that happens overnight. It’s been moments over the last 28 years. It’s just constantly going and not necessarily always believing that I was going to win a World Cup race. It’s just a matter of trying every single day.” She said, “I go to sleep, thinking maybe I could get one more win, if I work really hard tomorrow.”
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